CHENNAI: Paddy procurement for the public distribution system (PDS) in Tamil Nadu touched an all-time high of 64.2 lakh metric tonnes during 2025-26, compared to 47.98 lakh MT in the year before, marking an increase of 16.22 lakh MT. The Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) and its authorised agency, the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India (NCCF), procured the paddy from farmers on behalf of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) at the minimum support price (MSP).
For the 2026-27 kharif marketing season, procurement is set to commence on September 1, as the union government has permitted procurement at the revised MSP, which will also come into effect on the same day. Incidentally, despite opposition from the centre last year, the state government announced an increase in the incentive paid over and above the MSP for paddy.
On August 10, Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay announced an increase in the incentive for paddy procurement. The incentive for fine-variety paddy was raised from Rs 156 to Rs 289 per quintal, while the incentive for common variety was increased from Rs 131 to Rs 159 per quintal. Following the revision, the total procurement price stands at Rs 2,750 per quintal for fine variety and `2,600 per quintal for common variety.
TNCSC Managing Director Shilpa Prabhakar Satish attributed the higher procurement mainly to the guaranteed support price and the timely release of water from dams. “The increase in the minimum support price has made the sale of paddy at direct procurement centres more lucrative. Favourable weather conditions have also increased the area under paddy cultivation across the state,” she said.
Further, she said the increased paddy procurement resulted in the production of more rice than the quantity required to be supplied by the FCI. “The surplus rice will be stored for future use. The increased procurement will also help reduce the state’s expenditure on rice purchases,” she added.
According to official data, the FCI supplies around 2.78 lakh MT of rice every month for distribution through the PDS. In addition, the state government purchases around 1 lakh MT of rice from the centre at `23.2 per kg.
Tamil Nadu requires approximately 33.36 lakh MT of rice annually for PDS distribution. However, the 64.2 lakh MT of paddy procured this year is expected to yield around 42.44 lakh MT of rice.
On August 20, Minister P Venkataramanan justified the decision to provide a higher incentive for fine-variety paddy, noting that nearly 60% of the paddy procured by the TNCSC was of the fine variety. He said fine-variety rice was of better quality than common-variety rice and disclosed that the government planned to distribute higher-quality rice through fair price shops from November.